Any room in your home can be a potential threat to small children, but if you know how to childproof a bathroom, you will give yourself a great start to keeping the children in your household safe and sound. From hot curling rods, to ingesting poison, to drowning hazards, you will have your work cut out for you when it comes to keeping your children safe.

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Steps

1

Keep babies and young children out of the bathroom by closing the door each time you leave the restroom and either installing a hook-and-eye latch on the outside of the door or putting childproof covers on doorknobs.

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2

Only let your children enter the bathroom under your direct supervision.

3

Keep children out of the toilet by not only putting the lid down but also by installing a toilet lock to keep your child from lifting the lid. Toilets can easily pose a drowning threat if your child loses his or her balance and falls in head first. Many young kids are not coordinated enough to remove their head from the toilet.

4

Keep any sharp items out of reach of small children. Put up scissors, tweezers, nail clippers and/or razors in locked cabinets or high enough in closets that they will be out of reach from small children.

5

Keep medication only in cabinets that you can lock. This includes your prescription and over-the-counter medications.

6

Use the same precaution with herbal supplements and vitamins as you would with any other medications. Mouthwash is another item that you should keep secure.

7

Keep any items that produce heat, such as hair dryers or curling rods, far enough on the counter to be out of reach, and follow up by turning off and putting away any such items.

8

Keep any plugged in items away from water such as the toilet, sink or bathtub. As an added precaution, you should also make sure that you have ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets installed. They are inexpensive and might very well save your life and that of your child.

9

Make sure that your hot water heater has been set back to a temperature no higher than 130 °F (54 °C). This can reduce the risk of scalding for anyone in your household. You might also consider adding an anti-scalding device on your faucets as an added precaution.

10

Consider adding plastic or rubber guards on the tub spout to keep your child from bumping his head.

11

Use nonslip rubber mats both in the bathtub and right outside the tub next to it to keep children from slipping.

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